COMMONS AMENDMENTS (Hansard, 24 October 1990)

§ The Lord Chancellor

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 204 to 210. I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 212, 213, 227 and 273, which all concern qualifications for judicial or related appointments.

Amendments Nos. 204, 227 and 273 all concern senior posts in the Land Registry, and remove the requirement that the Chief Land Registrar and certain of his senior staff be lawyers. This reflects the enormous change in the role of the Chief Land Registrar, who nowadays is the administrative head of a substantial organisation.

The Land Registry was established as an Executive Agency. The Chief Land Registrar will be the Agency Chief Executive. The best candidate for the job may in future not always be a lawyer. It would be anomalous if the Chief Land Registrar could be a non-lawyer but his senior officials could not, and that requirement has also been removed. However, Amendment No. 227 also puts beyond doubt the Lord Chancellor's ability 1482 to use his regulation-making power under Section 126(5) of the Land Registration Act 1925 to require that certain legal functions be undertaken by lawyers.

Amendment No. 205 reflects in Northern Ireland legislation the removal, at paragraph 31(1) of Schedule 9, of the requirement that solicitors in England and Wales serve part-time as a recorder before they may be appointed as a circuit judge. The amendment removes the statutory requirement that a solicitor candidate for appointment as County Court judge in Northern Ireland must first serve as a deputy judge for at least three years.

At the request of the General Synod of the Church of England the proposed eligibility requirement for appointment as a judge of the Consistory Court has been changed from a seven year High Court qualification to a seven year general qualification, thus opening the post up to solicitors.

Amendments Nos. 207, 208, 209 and 210 concern the list of office holders who will become eligible for appointment to the circuit bench after three years full-time service. There are two substantive changes: to remove district probate registrars from the list; and, following an undertaking I gave to this House to consider the proposal—in answer to an amendment proposed by the noble Lords, Lord Mishcon and Lord Prys-Davies—to add coroners to it. I think the more appropriate promotion route for a district probate registrar is (as now) to the post of district judge of the Principal Registry of the Family Division.

The two drafting amendments correct the references to social security legislation in this list, and delete the reference to the non-statutory position of provincial stipendiary magistrate. That does not, however, affect the eligibility of provincial stipendiaries for appointment under this provision.

Finally, Amendments Nos. 212 and 213 add to the schedule the posts of legal secretary to certain senior judges, and Crown Prosecutor. These posts are currently open to solicitors and barristers. The amendments simply convert those qualification requirements, in line with the changes used for other comparable posts in the schedule, to possession of the "general qualification".

Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in the said amendments.—(The Lord Chancellor.)